Fireworks truck explodes; driver missing

A transport container loaded with fireworks exploded at 2:30 am on Saturday on the South Sixth Ring Road.

No injuries were reported.

Police said driver Sun Pengfeng appeared to have unloaded the container from the trailer of his truck and driven away from the scene.

He then called the police to report the incident and turned off his cell phone.

The municipal public security bureau is now investigating the case and appealing to the public for help.

The truck, with license plate S46502 and registered in central China's Henan province, transported fireworks for a pyrotechnics company based in Liuyang county, Hunan province, to Northeast China's Jilin province.

Both the transport company and the fireworks company said they were unable to reach the driver.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, police said, but it involved more than 1,000 boxes of fireworks.

A nearby resident surnamed Li told the Beijing Evening News that he saw vivid colorful patterns light up the night's sky, followed by an enormous bang.

"It sounded like an earthquake and I realized there had been an explosion," Li said, adding that he saw some local residents collecting unexploded fireworks which fell under the bridge.

Police and fire engines were said to have arrived at the scene within 15 minutes and the fire was extinguished by 3:50 am, the report said.

The 18-meter-long container was destroyed and so was a large section of the road.

The transport company in Henan has been asked to pay compensation to the fireworks company, estimated at 500,000 yuan.

With Spring Festival almost here, the municipal government is asking local public security bureaus and transport departments to strengthen safety checks on large trucks and vans bringing fireworks to the city.

The Beijing fireworks regulation office will also conduct a safety check on more than 100 firework transport trucks registered in Beijing.

METRO

(China Daily 02/01/2010 page25)